La regulación del refugio y el método feministala necesidad de una aproximación crítica

  1. Cristina M. Zamora Gómez
Revista:
Relaciones internacionales

ISSN: 1699-3950

Año de publicación: 2022

Título del ejemplar: Número abierto

Número: 51

Páginas: 111-128

Tipo: Artículo

DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: Relaciones internacionales

Resumen

This article aims to show how, through a feminist methodological approach developed from iusfeminist doctrines, an analysis of the International Law of Refugees shows how it takes on an androcentric regulatory function. The ultimate objective is to demonstrate how, through the application of the iusfeminist approach, that women’s refugee experiences are marked by the gender-based violence they suffer both at origin, on their journey, as well as in the state where they request to be recognized under the status of refugee protection. At the same time, it is the intention of this article to show how the reality of gender violence is not contemplated by the International Law of Refugees. The article will first illustrate, and in detail, what the premises of the feminist method are. Thus, a review of the elements of Haraway’s ‘situated knowledge’ will be made, which suggests that knowledge is a virtue, and is traversed not only by the historical and cultural context in which the research takes place, but also by the gaze of the person who investigates. Second, the article will expose the premises of the feminist method that calls into question the alleged universality, objectivity and impartiality of International Refugee Law, while taking into account gender relations and the experiences of women. In the development of the feminist method that this article will carry out, it will be structured around the question of women, feminist practical reason and the principle of awareness. In relation to the third point of the feminist method, it will be described how the application of postcolonial feminism affects the regulation of the law of refugees, which allows the deconstruction of the concept of equality such as: non-discrimination and non-subordination as well as explicitly examining the hierarchies of colonial powers and gender at stake in the research process itself. As for the fourth point of the feminist method, Crenshaw’s intersectionality is presented, which will make it easier for us to show the multiple factors that discriminate against refugees: gender-biological; sexual identity, sexual orientation; race, cultural, social, economic, etc. After this first section of the research, the second presents the results of applying the values of the feminist method to the regulation of International Refugee Law. To this end, the first sub-section will expose the androcentrism inherent in the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees. The Geneva Convention has been elaborated on masculine experiences and on the silence of women. This has meant that the interpretive framework of the refugee definition has been made from patriarchal structures, which leads to the homogenization and generalization of the male refugee experiences to all others. The first consequence of this is that many human rights violations committed against women have not been conceived as persecutory practices that entail protection through shelter. The result of this is that women find themselves in a position of not being subject to this Right because it seeks to universalize the male experiences that must be protected. The second sub-heading of this section indicates that in the International Law of Refugees the subjects “woman” and/or “feminine” have gone from being conceived as vulnerable subjects to subordinate and discriminated subjects. The most classical internationalist doctrine has been homogeneous when it has affirmed that refugee women are vulnerable subjects. In this article we position ourselves in the critical current that assumes that refugee women are subordinate and discriminated against. This distinction makes it possible to take vulnerability as an intrinsic issue of women and relate it to the fact that we live in patriarchal societies that create relationships of subordination and discrimination. Finally, and as a conclusion, “gender-based violence against women” will be conceptualized, for which we will rely on different international regulatory instruments of soft law in matters of gender equality and refugees: from the Convention on the Elimination of all forms Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW), as well as various Resolutions of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Thus, for this research, gender-based violence against women will be that which is suffered by women because they are women —that is, because of their gender—, or where it affects them disproportionately. Within this category, sexual violence is understood to be included, and we shall explain why violence against women is conceptualized with the adjective “gender”. In this article we recognize that gender violence can also be carried out by people whose gender is not the dominant male category. Thus, for this, we subscribe to the thesis that advocates overcoming the reductionist conceptualization of “gender equality” as equality between men and women, and therefore also that of “gender violence.” The construction of gender has been developed under the male/female binary imperative, without taking into account the existence of other sexes, and also the construction of other genders. The result is that the principle of gender equality developed and internalized has been that of equality between men and women. Finally, within this section of conclusions we will point out how this gender violence affects the experiences of women refugees. Through this feminist analysis, it is concluded that violence against women based on gender directly interferes in the determination of refugee status. These constitute a form of persecution or may motivate the persecution itself. Therefore, the need to include the gender variable in the regulation of the granting of the Refugee Status is made clear to overcome the androcentrism with which this International Law of Refugees was configured. For this reason, we put forward that the maximum rules will be of no use to deal with refugee claims that present violence against women based on gender in their experiences; rather, they will have to be studied case by case to know how such violence configures either the “form” or the “motive” of the persecution, or both.

Referencias bibliográficas

  • Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas, Convención de Ginebra sobre el Estatuto de las personas Refugiadas, adoptada por la Conferencia de Plenipotenciarios sobre el Estatuto de los Refugiados y de los Apátridas de las Naciones Unidas. Resolución 429 (V). 28 de julio de 1951.
  • Asamblea General de las Naciones, Convención sobre la eliminación de todas las formas de discriminación contra la mujer (CEDAW), Resolución 34/180. 18 de diciembre de 1979.
  • Asamblea General de las Naciones, Declaración sobre la Eliminación de la Discriminación contra la mujer, Resolución 2263 (XXII). 7 de noviembre de 1967.
  • Asamblea General de las Naciones, Declaración sobre la eliminación de la violencia contra la mujer (DEVAW), Resolución 48/104. 20 de diciembre de 1993.
  • Amaya Porras, A. (4.09.2021). Las afganas marcharon en Kabul en defensa de sus derechos y su inclusión en el Gobierno. France24.
  • Anderson. A. y Foster, M. (2021). A feminist appraisal of International Refugee Law. En Costello, C., Michelle Foster, M. y McAdam, J. (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of International Refugee Law (pp. 60-79). Oxford University Press.
  • Arenas Hidalgo, N. (2005). Mujeres refugiadas: entre el silencio jurídico y la aplicación de las perspectivas de género. En Gallego Durán, M. y García Gutiérrez, R. (Eds.). El legado plural de las mujeres (pp. 76-116). Alfar.
  • Arenas Hidalgo, N. (2009). La obtención del Estatuto de Refugiada en Occidente. La persecución por motivos relacionados con el género en la normativa de asilo de la Europa Comunitaria. En Gallego Durán, M. (Coord.). Género, ciudadanía y globalización (pp. 97-118). Alfar.
  • Barrère Unzueta, M.A. (1997). Discriminación, Derecho antidiscriminatorio y acción positiva a favor de las mujeres. Civitas.
  • Bartlett, K.T. (1990). Feminist Legal Methods. Harvard Law Review, 4 (103), 829-888.
  • Beyani, C. (1995). The needs of refugee women: A human-rights perspective. Gender and Development, 2 (3), 29-35.
  • Campos Rubio, A. (2008). Aportaciones iusfeministas a la revisión crítica del Derecho y a la experiencia jurídica. En Astola Madaragiaga, J. (Ed.). Mujeres y Derecho. Pasado y presente (pp. 167-226). Dirección de Igualdad del Vicerrectorado de la Universidad del País Vasco. Trabajo presentado en el I Congreso multidisciplinar de centro, Sección de Bizkaia de la Facultad de Derecho, Vizcaya.
  • Cebada Romero, A. (2018). La igualdad de género en la Unión Europea. En Salinas De Frías, A. y Pérez, E.J. (Coords.). La Unión Europea y la Protección de los Derechos Fundamentales (pp. 491-506). Tirant lo Blanch.
  • Charlesworth, H. (1994). What are ‘Women’s International Human Rights? En Cook, R. (Ed.). Human Rights of Women, National and International Perspectives (pp. 58-84). University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Charlesworth, H. y Chinkin, C. (2000). The boundaries of International Law: A feminist analysis. (Melland Schill Studies in International Law, Juris Publishing). Manchester University Press.
  • Comité CEDAW, Recomendación General número 19 sobre la violencia contra la mujer. 29 de enero de 1992.
  • Comité CEDAW, Recomendación General número 35 sobre la violencia por razón de género contra la mujer, por la que se actualiza la recomendación general 19. 26 de julio de 2017.
  • Comité Ejecutivo ACNUR, Nota sobre Determinados Aspectos de la Violencia Sexual contra las Mujeres Refugiadas. 12 de octubre de 1993.
  • Comité Ejecutivo ACNUR, Resolución número 73 (XLIV) Protección de los refugiados y violencia sexual. 1993.
  • Convención Interamericana para Prevenir, Sancionar y Erradicar la Violencia contra la Mujer, adoptada en Belem do Pará por la Organización de los Estados Americanos. 9 de junio de 1994.
  • Convenio del Consejo de Europa sobre prevención y lucha contra la violencia contra las mujeres y la violencia doméstica, firmado en Estambul. 7 de abril de 2011.
  • Correa Da Silva, W. (2021). La relación postcolonial entre Groenlandia y Dinamarca en Borgen. Revista Relaciones Internacionales, 30 (1), 15-40.
  • Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, (43), 1241-1299.
  • Davis, A. (1981). Women, Race and Class. Random House.
  • García Gascón, E. (15.08.2021). Se restaura el régimen talibán, las mujeres afganas vuelven a la casilla cero. Público.
  • Gil Ruíz, J.M. (2015). Formación en Derecho antidiscriminatorio: carencias e incumplimientos institucionales. Academia. Revista sobre enseñanza del Derecho, 26 (13), 49-77.
  • Grovogui, S.N. (2013). Postcolonialism. En Dunne, T., Kurki, M. y Smith, S. (Eds.). International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity (pp. 247-265). Oxford University Press.
  • Gunning, I. (1991). Arrogant Perception, World-Travelling and Multicultural Feminism: The case of Female Genital Surgeries. Columbia Human Rights Law Review, (23), 189-200.
  • Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Accounts of Perspective. Feminist Studies, 3 (14), 575-599.
  • Indra, D. (1987). Gender: a key dimension of the refugee experience. Refugee: Canada's Journal on Refugees, 3 (6), 3-4.
  • Jiménez Sánchez, C. (2015). La perspectiva de género en las investigaciones y la docencia del Derecho Internacional Público. REJIE: Revista Jurídica de Investigación e Innovación Educativa, 12, 2-12.
  • Jiménez Sánchez, C. (2017). La persecución de género en el Derecho Internacional de los Refugiados: nuevas perspectivas. Revista Electrónica de Estudios Internacionales, 33.
  • Kapur, R. (2002). The tragedy of victimization rhetoric: resurrecting the “native” subject in International/Post-colonial feminist legal politics. Harvard Human Rights Law Journal, 1 (15), 1-38.
  • Mackinnon, C., (1995). Hacia una Teoría Feminista del Estado. Cátedra.
  • Martín Arribas, J.J. (2000). Los Estados Europeos frente al desafío de los Refugiados y el Derecho de Asilo. Dykinson.
  • Meijer, M. (1985). Oppression of Women and Refugee Status. A Discussion Paper. Proceedings of the international seminar on refugees, Dutch Refugee Association.
  • Merino Sancho, V.M. (2012). Mujer, inmigrante y violencia(s). La violencia de género sobre mujeres extranjeras en situación administrativa irregular en el ordenamiento jurídico español. Estudis. Institut de Drets Humans de la Universitat de València, 2.
  • Mestre i Mestre, R. (2006). La caixa de Pandora, Introducció la teoría feminista del dret (Tesis doctoral). Universitat de València.
  • Miguel Juan, C. (2014). Pandataria: Una mirada feminista al Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos y al Derecho Internacional de las Personas Refugiadas (Tesis doctoral). Universitat de València.
  • Miguel Juan, C. (2016). Refugiadas. Una mirada feminista al Derecho Internacional. Catarata.
  • Musalo, K. (2005). La Convención de 1951 sobre el Estatuto de Persona Refugiada y la protección de las mujeres frente a las violaciones de sus derechos fundamentales. Revista de Derecho Migratorio y Extranjería, (8), 9-22.
  • Olivius, E. (2016). Constructing Humanitarian Selves and Refugee Others. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 18 (2), 270-290.
  • Olsen, F. (2000). El sexo del Derecho. En Ruiz, A. (Comp.). Identidad femenina y discurso jurídico (pp. 25-45). Biblos.
  • Peake, L.J. (2017). Feminist methodologies. En Richardson, D., Castree, N., Michael F., Goodchild, Audrey Kobayashi, Weidong Liu y Richard A. (Eds.). The International Encyclopedia of Geography (pp. 2.331-2.340). Marston.
  • Quinajo, A. (2000). The coloniality power and Eurocentrism in Latin America. SAGE Journal, 2 (15), 215-232.
  • Razack, S. (1995). Domestic violence as gender persecution: policing the borders f nation, race and gender. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 8 (45), 48-88.
  • Ruiz-Giménez Arrieta, I. (2000). El feminismo y los Estudios Internacionales. Revista de Estudios Políticos (Nueva Época), 108, 325-359.
  • Santolaya Machetti, P. (2000). Derecho de asilo y persecución relacionada con el sexo. Mujer y Constitución en España (pp. 561-593). Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales.
  • Santolaya Machetti, P. (2002). La protección debida a la persecución por razones de género. En Fernández Sánchez, P.A. (Ed.). La revitalización de la protección de los Refugiados (pp. 89-93) Universidad de Huelva.
  • Singh, N., Lokot, M., Chi-Chi U., Onyango, M.A., Morgan, R., Harmer, A., Freedman, J. y Heidari, S. (2021). Research in forced displacement: guidance for a feminist and decolonial approach. The Lancet, 10274 (397), 560-562.
  • Smart, C. (1989). Feminism and the Power of Law. Routledge.
  • Young, I. (2000). La justicia y la política de la diferencia. Ediciones Cátedra.
Fuente de los datos: Dialnet